Kairat still in futsal title hunt

Play-off likely
At kick-off in Almaty, previously unbeaten Aktobe lead Kairat by nine points, though they had four games left to their rivals' six. However, that meant that Kairat could ill afford a defeat in either match if they were to remain on course for a fifth straight championship. Despite the absence of Rafael, Kairat won the first game 7-4, but a day later let a two-goal lead slip as Stanislav Kozin struck two minutes from time to secure a 3-3 draw. If both Kairat and Aktobe win their remaining matches, the title will be decided by a play-off. Aktobe's two remaining fixtures are at home against Ayat Rudniy, while Kairat first meet Alfa Rudniy twice before playing two away games against Tulpar-Ikar Karagandy on 8 and 9 April.

Semi-final
After that, Kairat will focus on their UEFA Futsal Cup semi-final against MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg on 25 April in the tournament hosted by MFK Dinamo Moskva, who beat Almaty at this stage two years ago. Kairat coach Alesio said: "I think that we can beat Ekaterinburg. It doesn't mean it's going to be a cakewalk of course. Dinamo and ElPozo [Murcia FS] are favourites, but I don't think we would be shaking when playing them as well. This is not our first semi-final so this time we look to win. Now we will analyse the opposition, it is important to know their weaknesses. You can't call us a team of stars, we're playing collective futsal and we know how to get the best out of this tactics."